Scottie Scheffler looks inevitable at the PGA Championship

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As the ball sailed through the air, Scottie Scheffler’s shuffling feet froze in their place. He watched his parabola of a tee shot reach its apex before landing exactly where it needed to — just short of the 14th green, bounding forward then rolling onto the surface like a putt.

From 304 yards away, Scheffler had placed the ball 2 feet, 9 inches from the hole. The ensuing eagle putt was a formality that tied him for the lead at 8-under, but it might as well have served as a flashing billboard around Quail Hollow Country Club that announced one of professional golf’s maxims over the past two years: Scottie Scheffler is inevitable.

For the first two days at the PGA Championship, an eclectic leaderboard featured several unexpected names. But when Scheffler eagled 14 on Saturday and followed it up with birdies on 15, 17 and 18 to get to 11-under and secure the outright 54-hole lead by three shots, it was as if the laws of gravity were once again true. Even this major, as unique and perplexing as it was for 36-plus holes, had to eventually find its center.

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“I try to focus as much as I can on executing the shot, and there’s things out there that you can’t control,” Scheffler said. “I can’t control what other guys are doing. I can’t control getting bad wind gusts. I can’t control how the ball is going to react when it hits the green. All I can do is try to hit the shot I’m trying to hit. That’s what I’m focused on out there. Some days it works better than others.”

While Scheffler crescendoed into the lead, his inevitability felt strengthened by the fact that others began to fade. Quail Hollow’s arduous Green Mile stretch took its share of contenders for a spin, handing Jon Rahm a bogey on 17 while tainting Bryson DeChambeau’s round with a double bogey on that same hole.

“I’m three back with one round to go in a major championship,” DeChambeau said when he finished his round. “So, I can’t complain too much.”

“I’m assuming I’ll be at least one shot back starting tomorrow,” two-time major winner Rahm said after getting to 6-under on Saturday. “But that’s a great position.”

The only problem was that the No.1 player in the world still had more holes to play, and Scheffler cruised through the Green Mile in 2-under. On Sunday, Rahm will start five shots back of Scheffler; DeChambeau will need to make up six.

Three players are closer to Scheffler heading into Sunday than Rahm. Alex Noren, 42, who is recovering from a tendon tear in his hamstring, is three shots back and will play with Scheffler. Noren finished in a tie for 51st at last week’s Truist Championship. Davis Riley and J.T. Poston, both at 7-under, will follow. Riley has two top-10 finishes this season; he also has five missed cuts and has more missed cuts at majors in his career than he does made cuts. Poston, meanwhile, has never finished better than 30th at a major championship.

In other words, Scheffler doesn’t exactly have the best players in the world immediately chasing after him. It’s why despite their respective deficits, Rahm and DeChambeau might be Scheffler’s most capable adversaries. Rahm and DeChambeau also are looking for their third major victory.

This is the first time since he joined LIV that Rahm has truly contended in a major and had a chance to add to his tally. Getting a PGA Championship would not only put him at three majors. It would mean that he would arrive at The Open Championship at Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush with a chance to do what Rory McIlroy just did: complete the Grand Slam.

“It’s hard to express how hungry I may be for a major, about as hungry as anybody can be in this situation,” a smiling Rahm said. “Very happy to be in position again.”

This week, Rahm has been steady. He leads the field in strokes gained off the tee and is 20th in approach game, but he has lost nearly a full stroke around the green. It’s about as complete of a performance as he has had at a major since his 2023 Masters win, but it might still lack enough firepower to catch Scheffler.

DeChambeau’s third round stalled what appeared to be another Sunday at a major where he would be heading in a mere stroke or two away from the lead. It’s not surprising that this course would fit DeChambeau’s eye, as he has been driving the ball well. But like at Augusta, his approach game (54th in the field this week) might once again cost him a real shot at his third major title.

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“All I can do is control what I can control, and if I go out and shoot 6-, 7-under, that’s what I’m focused on doing,” DeChambeau said before adding an important caveat. “Not that that’s what’s going to do it, but you never know.”

In the lead-up to Quail Hollow, most of the attention rightfully had surrounded McIlroy, who was coming off a historic, sport-altering victory at the Masters that secured him a long-awaited Grand Slam. But Scheffler, who had just won the most recent tournament he played in by eight shots, was still considered a co-favorite and remained the sport’s true standard.

During the first two days, Scheffler shot casual rounds of 69 and 68. None of it felt particularly impressive because his ability to shoot under par without his best stuff has become second nature. The bar he has set for himself is so high that the only way he can surprise is if he doesn’t finish inside the top 10 at a tournament. Even that in itself is not enough. He has had six top-10 finishes this season, but because he had not won until the Byron Nelson two weeks ago, there was consternation about the state of his game. Scheffler has shown some on-course frustration, but he has continued to preach patience.

“Golf is not really a game where you can force things. If you are playing a sport like football or basketball, you can force things based on adrenaline or pushing people out of the way or whatever it is,” Scheffler said. “Golf, I feel like it’s more letting the scores come to you, and you have to be a lot more patient, I think, in this sport than you do other ones, especially over the course of a 72-hole tournament.”

This week, Scheffler has played like the best player in the world again, ranking inside the top 10 in strokes gained off the tee, approach and around the green. Most importantly, his putting has been more than serviceable (36th in the field), and his ever-impressive mindset of being able to bounce back from bad shots or holes seems to be in top shape. It’s exactly the kind of recipe that has won him two green jackets.

‘I’m out there to get the most out of myself and try to beat up on the golf course, and at the end of the day, that’s what I’m focused on,” Scheffler said. “If I’m thinking about what somebody else is doing out there, that’s not going to be a good thing for me.”

On Sunday, Scheffler will have the luxury to not think of anyone but himself. His chasers might say they will only focus on what they control, but deep down, they know: For them to have any chance of raising the Wanamaker Trophy, they need the sport’s most inevitable force to falter.